Nevada County picayune., 1887-06-22
AGRICULTURAL.
Reducing Farm Expenses.

ReuuCin2 fdGfIl GxpenSeS.'
 When the profits become small business man generally tries to reduce the expenses to cores pond. It is lesson that the far mer may we'll set himself to learn. II certainly cannot be disputed that the profits made on the farm are small enough to justify very serious enquiries on the subject
 No doubt most farmers will thinK at first glance, that they are running their farming operations as cheaply as they can. It Is per fectly true that most farmers are economical, They do not as a rule employ any more labor than they are obliged to, and in fact, are much more apt to do too little cul. tiyating, etc. than too much. But the sins of omission may i'll this matter be as bad as those of con- mission. The lack of economy may come in, in the failure to ob- tain the best implements, in the failure to adopt the best system for doing the work, the neglect to plan the work to do it in least time and most cheaply aud great many other small matters that count up qnite largely in the az gregate.
 No man can afford to haul his gram hundred miles to market if there Is railroad on which he can ship it, although his father may have done so. So, there are many short cuts made iu doing work that the wide awake, brainy farmer of to- day avails himself of aud makes his business profitable The use of the most improved h. bnr,saviug tools Is one of the most important of these. Every farmer thoroughly alive to his own inter. est recognizes the fact that he can do his work far cheaper by horse power than by hand power. Yet there are many who have not learn ed the very simple, yet very effec' tive method of saving time by cul. tivating corn in the early stages by harrow instead of by cultiva. tors and hoes. With a ten.fooi harrow to run over the corn sey eral times, just before and just af- ter 1t has come up, hoeing may be saved entirely as we'll as a large amount of work with cultiyators With such harrow, one man, or boy, with a good team can culti, vate as much corn as half dozen with cultivators or double shovels and hoes. Whoever has not tried this ought to give it d trial before the corn gets too large. A smooth. ing harrow is the best to use.
 In the matter of teams, ia st walking horses are a very great economy. In these hard times no farmer can afford to have slow walking horses. It alone may make the difference of profit or loss in the crop. But in breaking lands even the fastest walking horses do not exhaust the possi- biliiies of saving time. and hence money. Where it is possible gaug blows may be used, in which one man may do the work oftwo. This means a saving of not less than a dollar a day
 With many the improved har. veSting machines have already ta- ken the place of the old reapers. But they are costly machines both to buy and to keep. A farmer should be sure to learn to manage such machine so perfectly as to get the best work, and also to talk ( the best care of it. Careless hand ling and defective protection and care use up machine faster than legitimate nse. This is a source of immense loss to hundreds ol farmers, and is a leak in the prof its that needs to be guarded against al ali times,
 General careleSSnesS in looking after and feeding stock, in taking care of the crops alter they art made, etc, Is a cause of loss to 6 great many farmers. Indeed just little negligence often cause, enough loss to overbalance the whole profit oi a year. By a fail ure to look after small matters stock may get into the crops farm animals may be killed or iu iured. Crops already made may